Mandel to visit

Despite the fact that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is running ads against him, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said Wednesday, he has been a strong advocate for business in his first term.

“I think I’ve worked with business better than any senator in recent memory,” the Democrat said in an interview with Enquirer editors and reporters, citing his relationships with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

Brown also touted his support for the auto industry bailout, a central theme of his campaign against Republican challenger Josh Mandel.

“There’s no question this state would have been in a depression if not for the auto rescue,” he said. “Not only are these companies now profitable, the supply chain is growing.”

For instance, he said, a northern Ohio Jeep plant that used to get 50 percent of its parts from the United States now gets 75 percent of its parts here – many in Ohio.

Brown’s race against Mandel, the state treasurer, has been among the most expensive in the country, with conservative outside super PACs and “issues” groups spending more than $18 million trying to unseat him. So-called “dark money” groups, whose income sources often aren’t disclosed, have weighed in less on the pro-Brown side, spending around $4 million.

The contest, which could help determine whether Democrats retain control of the Senate, has tightened in recent months as negative ads on both sides have flooded TV airwaves. Brown leads 52 percent to 45 percent, with a 3.3 point margin of error, according to the latest poll, conducted in mid-September by the Enquirer and the Ohio Newspaper Organization.

Brown defended his ability to work with and for business Wednesday, even though his vote followed the U.S. Chamber’s position just 45 percent of the time in 2011, according to the Chamber’s website. Brown has a career rating of 32 percent, one of the lowest among senators.

He has also held hundreds of roundtables with businesspeople and others in the past six years – the first one at the Cincinnati chamber: “That’s what I do every day. And no other senator has looked at his job that way.”